Blog Posts

Mark Lemons

EmCare’s South Division has had a great year, and recently came together to recognize the clinicians and operational teams responsible for the division’s success in 2016.

Held at the Renaissance Tampa International Plaza Hotel Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, the division’s Annual Leadership Meeting was comprised of a series of lectures designed to increase the leadership skills of Medical Directors and Nurse Leaders, including one on the opioid crisis by Steven J. Stack, MD, FACEP, immediate past president of the American Medical Association.

Terry R. Meadows, MD, FACEP, chief executive officer of the division, served as emcee for the event, and named the 2016 Physicians of the Year.

Cesar Carralero, DO
Broward Health Imperial Point
Emergency Department Medical Director of the Year
Hospital administration calls Dr. Carralero “the best thing that could have happened” to Imperial Point. Not only has he impacted the emergency department, but he has profoundly impacted every department that has contact with the ED.

A former engineer, Dr. Carralero uses ingenuity and experience from his previous career to develop solutions that lead to dramatic metric improvement. He began at Broward Health 10 years ago and has been at the helm in the ED for two years. He and his team are committed to improving the patient experience and improve quality. He works hard to create an environment of accountability by developing metric reports to help drive continuing process improvement.

When he is not at work, Dr. Carralero enjoys spending time with wife and two daughters and tending to his Bonsai trees.

Uday Tata, MD
Piedmont Newton Medical Center
Hospitalist Medical Director of the Year 2016
Dr. Tata was serving as interim medical director while the program at Piedmont Newton was being revamped. Hospital administration quickly realized his value and pressured him -- and EmCare -- to get him to stay on as medical director.

From the day he took on the hospitalist team, Dr. Tata has led from the front, often making personal sacrifices to help when there were holes in the schedule. Hospital leadership said, “He is not just a physician, but a physician leader. He leads his team by example. He has leveraged his wealth of knowledge and experience both as a hospitalist and medical director to establish a solid program.” Dr. Tata is an active participant in facility staff meetings and serves on the hospital’s infection control committee.

According to his peers, Dr. Tata understands the importance of teamwork and collaboration. He has worked hard to rebuild the program by improving relations between hospitalists and the specialists in the community.

Mark Lemons, MD
Christus Spohn Hospital Beeville
Anesthesia Medical Director of the Year
Dr. Lemons has been a medical director for the last 12 years and is the co-chair of the anesthesia department at several EmCare client sites. He is calm and steady during times of stress, even in the worst trauma situations, according to his peers. He demonstrates confidence that makes people want to work with him, and he always has a smile and kind word. He is as comfortable in the OR as he is with his patients, and he displays genuine compassion to his patients and their families.

Dr. Lemons has worked closely with the providers and staff in the OR to develop a collaborative team environment focused on patient safety and outcomes. Our clients have commented on the improvements that he has made, from customizing an accountability reporting program to implementing a cost-reduction program for pharmacy expenses to implementing process-improvement initiatives. His leadership has helped generate patient satisfaction scores in the 96 to 98 percentile.

Whether it’s leading the anesthesia program for student nurse anesthetists, promoting a team environment or sharing clinical knowledge with the CRNAs to strengthen the team, his peers said that Dr. Lemons consistently demonstrates his commitment to the practice, the organization and the hospital system.

When he’s not working, Dr. Lemons enjoys spending time with his wife and their two sons. He also volunteers at the local dog shelter and is a foster for abandoned dogs.

Winners were selected based on feedback from internal and external surveys. Congratulations to all of this year’s honorees!